BLACK FRIDAY Reactions to the Decision

Australian Bat Society (Statement)

"The ABS does not support the shooting of flying-foxes in any situation. We believe there are alternative humane, intelligent, non-lethal and cost effective solutions for excluding flying-foxes from crops. It is unlikely that shooting will solve the problem for growers, and inappropriate draped netting is likely to cause further prolonged suffering and uncontrolled rates of mortality." "It is worrying that native species can be considered as pests and subject to inhumane methods for control, especially when two of those species are listed in a Threatened category under Commonwealth legislation." "One if these, the Spectacled Flying-fox, which is listed as Vulnerable, has a limited distribution only within Queensland, and is therefore not represented in States that do not have lethal methods of control. The majority of Vulnerable-listed Grey-headed Flying-foxes are highly nomadic and move several hundred kilometres each year in largely unpredictable patterns, and we wonder about the effectiveness of shooting for such a species." "The use of shotguns is not likely to result in clean kills or the recovery of wounded bats remaining in trees. The method is inconsistent with more comprehensive animal ethics requirements for scientists and, for example, the strict requirements for kangaroo culling which require clean kills." "Flying-foxes perform irreplaceable roles in our native forests as pollinators and seed dispersers. The ecological role and ecosystem values of Australian native bat species obviously does not have sufficient weight in the public debate on flying-fox issues."

Dr Kyle Armstrong, President, Australasian Bat Society, Inc

Don't Shoot Bats Campaign (media release)

Shooting threatened flying-foxes legalised on Threatened Species Day 7 September 2012

The Queensland Government is marking Threatened Species Day this year by the re-introduction of shooting of two threatened species – Grey-headed and Spectacled flying-foxes, listed as vulnerable under national environmental laws.

“What a terrible irony for Threatened Species Day. Killing is the opposite of what is required to conserve Australia’s threatened flying-fox species,” Dr Booth said.

“Four years ago, the Queensland Government finally recognised the cruelty of shooting flying-foxes after advice from the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee, and banned it.

“Now, the guns will be reloaded and up to 10,500 flying-foxes of four species will be shot under damage mitigation permits. Many more could be illegally shot, and thousands of dependent young will die of thirst or starvation.

“The Environment Minister has said he is taking a ‘balanced’ approach. Species are listed as threatened when their future is in the balance, so what is balanced about shooting them? There is nothing balanced about sanctioned cruelty.

“Great suffering will result from the re-introduction of shooting: it is inevitable that some of those shot will die slowly of their wounds, and young deprived of their mothers will die of thirst or starvation.

“Fruit growers have cost-effective alternative methods of crop protection. Most do the right thing and protect their crop by nets and other non-lethal means. It should be expected of all.”

See www.dontshootbats.com for more information about flying-foxes and the problems of lethal crop protection.

Contact: 0448 868 984.

Bat Rescue & Conservation Qld (media release)

Flying-fox conservationists today criticised the inconsistency of the Queensland Government on its approaches to humanness for wildlife. Yesterday’s introduction in Parliament of legislation intended to improve the welfare of dugongs and turtles contrasts with the government’s intention to overturn a 2008 ban on shooting flying-foxes in orchards.Conservationist Dr Carol Booth said that the LNP Government’s intention to revive lethal damage mitigation permits for flying-foxes in orchards would require removal of humaneness requirements from the Nature Conservation Act."The shooting of flying-foxes was banned after the Government’s welfare advisory committee evaluated the evidence and found it was inhumane. A government-appointed panel in NSW also found it was inhumane," Dr Booth said."Either the Government will have to make a special cruelty exception for flying-foxes or they will remove the humaneness requirement altogether for damage mitigation permits under Queensland’s Nature Conservation Act."If we return to the situation prior to the 2008 ban on shooting, thousands of flying-foxes are likely to die slowly from shotgun wounds and thousands of their young will starve to death. This clearly constitutes animal cruelty."____________________________"All Queenslanders will now have the same animal welfare obligations and it's important every Queenslander understands animal cruelty is never acceptable."Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry The Honourable John McVeigh, Media release, 19 June 2012____________________________President of Bats Conservation and Rescue Qld Louise Saunders said she welcomes the message from the Government that ‘animal cruelty is never acceptable’ and that it should be applied to all wildlife, including flying-foxes."We demand that the same animal welfare standards apply to flying-foxes as to other wildlife."For most of Queensland’s history of environmental laws, flying-foxes were exempted from laws that applied to other wildlife. Prior to 1994, farmers didn’t even have to apply for a permit to kill flying-foxes and there were no limits on numbers killed."Now, it seems that the government intends to once again exempt flying-foxes from the laws that apply to other wildlife."We can only repeat the government’s own words – ‘animal cruelty is never acceptable’."Contact: Carol Booth: 0448 868 984; Louise Saunders: 0425 73 4008Media release, 20 June

Australian Fauna Care (Statement)

Australian Fauna Care holds that the Qld Government's decision to reintroduce Damage Mitigation Permits for Flying-foxes is illogical, irresponsible, and unforgivable.

The numbers to be killed are obnoxious, especially in regard to vulnerable species such as the Grey-headed Flying-fox and Spectacled Flying-fox. It is just not acceptable to kill vulnerable species like this. Worse, the numbers that are being quoted are misleading:

In 2009 the only documented study of its kind found that over 60% of bats shot were female, and 70% of those were either pregnant or had dependent young - all which would have died. So the actual number killed was 40% more than the primary kill.

In every case where independent counting has been done, farmers have routinely exceeded their limits(accepted into evidence in three Court cases in Qld)

Without supervision, there is no logical reason to believe that the lack of compliance by fruit growers will be any different than it was when permits were issued previously.

In relation to animal cruelty, the same 2009 study quoted above found at least 27% of the animals that were shot were alive hours and sometimes days after their injuries were sustained. Add to that the dependent young that would have died, and a massive 67% of the primary kill numbers were subject to extended and painful death - a primary descriptor of inhumane treatment. Based on a kill limit of 10,580 it could be expected that 7000 native animals will be subject to government sanctioned animal cruelty.

The Qld Minister for Agriculture John McVeigh said on June 19 "Animal cruelty is never acceptable". How then does the same Government reconcile sanctioning over 7,000 cases of animal cruelty each year?

The decision to subject any species to such cruelty is an anathema in modern Australia. That threatened species are to be the target is unforgivable.

Queensland returns to cruelty on national Threatened species day7th September 2012 - Humane Society International (HSI) today condemned the resumption of the cruel shooting of native flying-fox species, sanctioned by the Queensland Government. An amended regulation exempting flying-foxes from humaneness requirements under Queensland’s Nature Conservation Act 1992 comes into effect today, National Threatened Species Day, Friday 7th September.“It is a total disgrace that on National Threatened Species Day our native flying-fox species have had open season declared on them in Queensland, despite full acknowledgment of the cruelty that will result,” said Alexia Wellbelove of HSI.In 2008, the Queensland Government stopped issuing licences to shoot flying-foxes to their fruit growers after an investigation by the Queensland Animal Welfare Advisory Committee found shooting flying-foxes to be inhumane. This finding of cruelty has since been supported by a NSW panel, resulting in NSW phasing out the shooting of flying-foxes.The new laws sanction the killing of up to 10,500 flying-foxes, including the grey-headed and the spectacled flying-fox, both of which are listed as vulnerable under national environmental laws. Shooting is a cruel method, as flying-foxes are often not killed outright but left to die slow painful deaths from their injuries.“Queensland has today acknowledged that over 10,500 bats will be brutally killed each year to protect crops. With many fatally shot females leaving behind young that will die a slow death from starvation, the numbers of flying-foxes involved is, in reality, far higher. And illegal killings may drive this figure even higher.”“Sadly, it is highly unlikely that this sanctioned cruelty will provide crop growers with protection from flying-foxes, as it has been shown that the only effective method to protect crops from flying-foxes is to install netting.”“HSI is therefore calling on growers this National Threatened Species Day not to shoot our threatened species, but to use the most humane methods to protect their crops from flying-foxes.”

WHAT A WAY TO BEGIN THREATENED SPECIES DAY!The NSW Wildlife Council, representing more than 4,500 wildlife rehabilitators in NSW, is outraged by the amendment to the Queensland Nature Conservation (Wildlife Management) Regulation 2006, which comes into force today. From today, it will be legal in Queensland to shoot more than 10,500 flying-foxes per year. Both Spectacled Flying-foxes and Grey-headed Flying-foxes are listed as Threatened Species! One might expect this sort of thing in Third World countries, but in Australia in 2012?Since shooting takes place at night, compliance will be impossible to monitor; animals will doubtless be shot while in flight and quotas will easily be exceeded.“ Shooting of flying-foxes was halted in 2008 because of its inherent cruelty,” says NWC Chair, Audrey Koosmen. “Downed animals are difficult to find, which means they can suffer for hours or days before dying. A clean head shot is a virtual impossibility at night on such a tiny target. Animals killed often have babies back in camp which are condemned to a slow death from dehydration and starvation. It is of concern to us because flying-foxes do not recognise state borders and those to be killed in Queensland also forage in NSW”. Although “reasonable attempts must be made to locate dead flying-foxes” and to deal with those wounded or orphaned, Northern Rivers Wildlife Carer Representative Ilona Roberts believes that “it is unlikely that much effort would be made until daylight, meaning that the animals not killed would have been suffering for hours. It is also unlikely that shooters will call in wildlife carers to rescue or assist wounded animals which they want dead. Worse still; shooting them won’t stop others coming to seek food. These unfortunate animals are entering a period of untold suffering”.Contact: Ilona Roberts: 02 66766259; mob: 0409494391 Audrey Koosmen: 0408 640517